I took a short sabbatical this weekend- this time to my home state for ocean waves and ceremony to honor a sister making her transition into wisdom keeper.
Traveling corrals my wayward thoughts and so I believe that even if I don’t really want to go I must, because it simply sharpens my focus. It makes visible what gets buried in the day-to-day.
I’ve found that in the air, clarity and vision find a way in. It’s in unplugged space and solitary confinement (in my tiny seat with my bag for a footrest) where I can see the ground beneath me clearly. Decisions are made with ease up there in the Sky Nation. I’ve come to count on it-so I carry with me a list of unresolved questions and dilemmas in my notebook and submit them for review. In the most unexpected ways, they are considered by an yet-to-be-known panel.
While traveling through SeaTac on the way home, I met a woman who was glowing from a training she’d received, and urged me to make sure I connected with him because he would be on my next flight. It was the second of what would be three not-so-coincidental meetups with people I would not have encountered had I not left my nest to go exploring.
“The last forty years have seen a continual rise in people’s interest in traditional cultures that engage with the unseen forces of nature and the spirit beings that inhabit the dreamtime. This fascination with what is called shamanism is occurring in the Western world and seems to be a response to our malnourished spirits that long for connection with the greater web of life and the meaning that comes from that connection. This movement toward spirit is perhaps an evolutionary one, or maybe it is a return to our birthright. Our very DNA has encoded in it a memory of a time when we all lived close to spirit and its individual manifestations. This form of shamanism, which we all have access to spirit in our everyday lives, is what Eliot Cowan, author of Plant Spirit Medicine, refers to as ‘household shamanism.’ This is not an appropriation of an indigenous culture’s customs or beliefs, but rather is a natural progression of human evolution to live within a spiritual ecology. People working and living in this way are not shamans but instead are those who practice in a shamanic way.” -Pam Montgomery, Plant Spirit Healing
The journey was nourishing and explorative, connective and rich. I encountered a woman on a creative journey with her art who was needing permission to make a difficult decision, my daughter’s teacher who was on her way home from running a half-marathon and shared parts of her life with me which helped me appreciate her even more. My three minutes with the woman on the train to Terminal C reminded me that there are opportunities to learn deeper and witness miracles when we are open to seeing them in front of us.
All of them helped me clarify that indeed, when we travel out, it is to discover our way in.
Tell me about how you find a way in. I’d love to hear about what works for you.
Pixie, This is so timely. Do you think we also shut ourselves outside, in a sense, intentionally, so that, then, we see can from a different perspective the advantages and privilege of where we were once in. I sometimes say, one has to go away from the inner to a place way outside to get a view of the bigger picture. And yet we are never the same again. Love, Stephie!
What a timely question.How do I find my way in? Sometimes I can just tap right in and other times I feel like a wee little Harry Potter looking for platform Nine and Three Quarters to no avail!The way in is jumping the gap, slipping through the keyhole, yielding to flow when resistance blocks me out. When I find myself lost and looking for my way back in/home I reach into my heart for a fresh observation and the spark it creates illuminates my path. I like how leaving my comfort zone gives me new eyes, but I do have to remind myself of that because I can stagnate quickly by privileging comfort over creation. How wonderful that you have this council in the sky, Pixie!